From the Desk of the CEO

Mid-Valley Hospital is experiencing one of the slowest business cycles ever for inpatient business. It mirrors the last time there was an open winter. I am happy for less severe weather, and have hope that March will deliver a great snow fall to catch up snow levels in the mountains. I hope for this so that the local agriculture businesses have adequate water supplies to grow great crops.

In the long-term, Mid-Valley Hospital is projected to benefit by 3 to 5% increase in funding due to the Affordable Care Act. If this is true, some of our woes will self-mediate over the next 18 to 24 months. We must keep a good attitude about providing the great health services we do, and vigorously maintain cost controls as we go forward.

Our last great effort to populate our Hospitalist Staff is currently underway as one member of that team returned to their state of origin. Beyond that, the program is underway, and like most launches will go through some ebbs and flows before being firmly established into the overall service tapestry.

Away we go in 2014! We plan to be better off through the year, and can hardly wait for all the “new waves” of health care delivery to unfold.